There Are More Things in Heaven and Earth

[highseasmods]

Who: Everyone involved in Death Day
Where: Noctem
When: January 21st-25th
What: Taking on Hawtrey, destroying shrines, and raiding his supplies. Surviving Noctem...or not. With a good dose of nightmares in between.
Warnings: Language. Violence. Trauma. It's an island of nightmares. Expect the worst.
Status: Open to all.


Killing Hawtrey seems to come first and foremost. The shrines can wait until after. We'll see if the wind blows fair or ill on that decision (on the 25th).

For now, the descriptions should tell you all you need to know. If not? Feel free to check / ask here.

Comments

North Shrine

[highseasmods]

Located at the top of the cliff, fight your way up the steep steps against fierce winds and flying creatures. Inside the shrine, the alter is located one courageous leap away from a seemingly endless pit in the floor where dark things writhe. Good luck.

Hazmats

[youhearthebells]

[Steps are a good sign. Something must be up at the top of them. But as the crew reaches this position, Gan Ning looks up to see what's facing them. Difficulty, indeed. It doesn't help that his private nightmares have dogged them the whole way, and even now there are snake demon soldiers with gray skin and glowing eyes lurking around them, waiting to swarm him like the did on the field at Hefei that day...]

All right, guys. We're all in this together. Nobody gets let behind, but we gotta get that shrine. No damn dead guys are comin' back today if Gan Xingba of the Bells has anything to say about it.

[He raises River Master, pointing up the stairs] Forward!

[willwork4sugar]

You said it.

[The thief eyes the way ahead of them, his breath sounding louder to him within the mask over his face. That had been a tough one to get through, the glowing red eyes of Risen soldiers mingling with the snake demon ones of Gan Ning's recollections.

But they've gotten this far. There's no way they'll back down now.

His grip tightening around the haft of his blade, Gaius nods at Gan Ning's word, moving forward.]

[summing_it_up]

[As planned ahead of time, he and Toothless have taken the sky route. Hiccup grimaces as he looks down, noting how busy things are getting again. It's not every day he gets to see what everyone else dreams up, right?]

Gross. They just don't quit, do they?

[A quick glance is given as he surveys where everyone in their crew is on the path, looking back over a shoulder to check where Astrid and Stormfly are in all of this.]

All right, guys! You heard the man. Let's go!

He says this toward Toothless as he leans forward, switching gears on the Night Fury's tailfin. Time to do some more backup.]

[b2_dragon]

[Toothless barked a gruff response, his wings flapping once before he begins to bring them in closer once he feels the subtle change of the wind against his tail fin.

He pushes ahead and begins to dive to build up some speed so that they can put some extra force behind their attacks. Here they go!]

[youhearthebells]

[He's so glad they have air support, has he mentioned that? Because he really is. If anything comes at them from the top of the stairs, they've got dragons to take it out.

Gan Ning keeps pace with Gaius the whole way, reserving his power and doing his best to just run right past any nightmare soldiers of any ilk that try to leap at them from the shoulders of the mountain. It seems like a good tactic up until they near the top and he glances up. There's something much larger standing at the very top of the staircase. Taller, broader, and carrying a scythe almost twice its own size.]

...oh hell no...

[willwork4sugar]

[It's not too difficult to dodge soldiers, and if any get too close for comfort, they'll meet the edge of Gaius's weapon.

His attention is quickly drawn to whatever awaits them ahead, and hearing Gan Ning's murmur, he casts a quick glance at the captain.]

That bad, huh...

[Greaaat...]

[youhearthebells]

Why don't they just disappear when we know they ain't real? Ain't no way Jones brought him here...

[Manifested nightmares would be so much easier to handle if you could just will yourself to stop believing in them, and they'd just snuff out of existence. Nope. Creature of his imagination or not, that's a pretty real-looking Orochi blocking their way.

Ning calls up to the dragons above them.]

Forget him, fly past and see if you can see the shrine from there! Me 'n Gaius'll handle that one!

[hahahaha....ha...]

[willwork4sugar]

That'd be too easy.

[And since when did this place ever go easy on them? Gaius smirks behind his mask as Gan Ning relays instructions.]

Suuure, yeah.

[What was that about easy again? Welp, they can't go back now! The thief dashes forward and decides to kick things off with a fireball in Orochi's direction.]

[youhearthebells]

[it's too much to hope that'll work, right? The shadow Orochi just bats it away with his scythe, and then taunts them in his weird, flanged voice. Pathetic humans. You will not escape.]

Yeah, sorry 'bout this one. Them guys we cut our way through to get here? He's their boss.

[he swoops in with River Master held in front of him, but he can't even get a strike in. Orochi bats him away, too, and then slams the butt of the scythe into the ground, sending dark energy and magic crackling outward in a halo from where he stands. Gan Ning bounces a couple times and comes up scraped and bruised, but not about to slow down for a second.]

[willwork4sugar]

[Of course. Gaius flips his blade around, gripping it in a reversed position.]

I guess they wanted the full set.

[He moves to try and get a hit in just as Gan Ning takes a swing, sparks flying as he intercepts the edge of Orochi's swat, and the thief's form flickers briefly, a dull red haze the only thing marking his movement as he 'shifts' out of the way of the crackling energy.

When he comes out of it, Gaius attempts to get in a hit from behind, whirling about with his sword.]

[youhearthebells]

[The hit may land, but it's going to take a lot more of them to even weaken the demon. He manages to look over his shoulder and give Gaius an unimpressed look before Gan Ning comes at him from the side, trying to get him while he's distracted.

No good. Orochi just thrusts out a hand and catches him by the throat, lofting him up off the ground in his grip. Ning flails helplessly, he can't even get his sword around to hack at the arm holding him.]

[willwork4sugar]

[He'd doubted that it would have done much, but at least it tells him that the guy's not impervious.]

Hey.

[Seeing that flicker of movement, Gaius is however surprised as Orochi still manages to catch Gan Ning- well so much for distracting. But Orochi's left the thief free to move, and Gaius isn't about to leave his captain hanging.

Let's see how Oro-chan likes a fireball in the face.

Another attempt to distract as Gaius tries to get around to slash at the guy's arm that holds Jingles.]

[youhearthebells]

[at least, nobody likes a fireball to the face. It's effective enough, to let Gan Ning drop to the ground before he can be choked to death. He heaves for breath and rasps a quick thanks to his first mate before switching gears.

He pulls out the sickle and chain and throws it to buy himself a little more room, so he can hop back and regroup.]

This sucks. I never could handle the real one by myself, took a whole army last time.

[willwork4sugar]

[With a quick nod at Gan Ning, Gaius moves back as well, eying the scythe-wielding figure.]

Well that's comforting to know. They use anything special?

FLYING ABOVE DIVE BOMB

[summing_it_up]

[And Hiccup is there to help guide Toothless along, his grip tightening on the handle of the leather saddle.

With the numbers growing, it was best to split off so that they wouldn't be overwhelmed. Flying over the gaps to get to the shrine is easier this way, right?

WRONG.

THERE ARE FLYING THINGS. IN THE AIR.

Hiccup makes a face.]

Oh greatNOW, TOOTHLESS!!

[b2_dragon]

[WELP. That's what he's here for!

Cutting swiftly to the side, Toothless lets off several violet shots of his plasma fire at the flying creatures. Hopefully those things can't maneuver as sharply as them!]

HARGH where did I go

[summing_it_up]

YEAH! That's showing them, bud!!

[Hiccup ducks his head, feeling the heat of each shot pass within moments of being fired. Another shift in the gears takes place, maneuvering the Night Fury as smoothly as he can.]

Head's up!

EATEN ALIVE

[b2_dragon]

[He twists around and evades with ease, acting as one with Hiccup. Their path of flight cuts between the swarms of creatures that weren't immediately taken out by the dragon's blasts.]

Oh NOOooooo

[summing_it_up]

[It's good. Probably a close call for him – he felt some wings brush past his hair and face. Grimacing, the viking lad keeps his eyes forward, concentrating on keeping Toothless on whatever path they're taking.]

Okay, okay, we're still good?

[A pat of reassurance.]

They're getting angrier...and I doubt it'll get any easier!

Aaaaaaaaaaaaah

[b2_dragon]

[The dragon grunts; he hears you, Hiccup!

Well, time to turn up the juice! As they turn about for another pass, the high-pitched whine that accompanies his preparation for a plasma blast is all the warning given before the bright violet shots rocket through the air and light up the skies.]

D: D: D:

[summing_it_up]

[Holding on for dear life and coordination, Hiccup checks his surroundings, feeling the shock of the impacting plasma blasts across the sky. Small areas clear up, but another mess of creatures come together within seconds.]

OhgodsToothless! Down!

[DIVE DIVE DIVE]

[b2_dragon]

[Almost immediately upon Hiccup's word, the dragon quickly tucks his wings against him as he angles down, and they descend sharply, just short of the mass of creatures that threaten to overtake them.]

[summing_it_up]

[With confusion up above, the two plummet. Hiccup shifts the gears again, barely breathing as he thinks up the next move.

It becomes clear when he sees some of them diving after them.]

Hold ooon...

[Thin hands yank at the grips for timing purposes, trying to change or flip the dragon's perspective in their descent. The idea is simple enough.]

Give 'em all you got!!

[b2_dragon]

[This was a familiar predicament, although between a super-sized dragon and a horde of smaller things, Toothless thinks he prefers the latter. He cranes his head around as well as he can, trying not to shift his body so much that it might send them into a spiral.

At Hiccup's order, the dragon opens his mouth, fire building like a stoked forge before Toothless spews it out, several shots in succession to try and take down if not disperse their pursuers.]